First and Foremost

(1). A way to signal to everyone in the meeting that this is the only agenda item you want to talk about and that all of the other stuff is meaningless to you.

“Okay, team, well, first and foremost, I want to address 2012 compensation. I understand many of you may have booked vacations for after the New Year…well, you might want to rethink those plans for now…”

(1). When you only hire people in your department who will never, ever pose a threat to you. That’s one way to find the “best people”, champ.

“So, we’ve had four people come through here that were perfect for the job. But Florence rejected every one of them. Trying a little empire-building, I think. The joke’s on her, though … we’re just going to take away the req.”